Toyota Canada has partnered with eye-tracking provider Tobii Pro and Dx3 Canada to record a car buyer’s journey in a dealership showroom in order to further understand the influence this space has in the car-buying experience.

“In this all-or-nothing, high-stakes sales environment, it is critical that automotive marketers understand which features influence shoppers to buy and how the showroom can be optimized to make them commit,” said Mike Bartels, senior research director at Tobii Pro Insight.

The study revealed that dealers have a 20-second window to sway a customer’s opinion. It also found that the layout of a showroom influences both millennials and older consumers in different ways.

For example, although millennials reviewed the same materials and features as older consumers, they spend less time with all elements within the dealership. They also gravitated towards the interactive, digital displays. Older shoppers, on the other hand, viewed this area but concentrated more on the textual elements of the display.

Digital screens and interactive displays maintained a high level of engagement from both parties and are considered to be the real eye-catchers, according to the news release.

Informational material was also viewed by the participants. The freestanding “Safety Tower” was well-positioned — central and upfront — and managed to capture everyone’s attention.

The vehicles remained the star attraction in the dealership with participants spending an average of 30 seconds looking at the exterior (including body lines and aesthetic features) — and more carefully at the interior — of the car.

“When it comes to attention, brands often overestimate the level of consumer engagement that they have to work with,” Bartels said. “Consumers start with a broad scan of what is out there, but then they zero in on specific things to the exclusion of everything else.”